What challenges do foundation phase teachers experience when ...

Bernita Blease & Janet Condy

What challenges do foundation phase teachers experience when teaching writing in rural multigrade classes?

Abstract A one-size-fits-all curriculum cannot address the issues faced by rural multigrade teachers and learners. In South Africa, despite government efforts to relieve adversity, poverty in rural areas is still rife and poor education still fails to lift people out of it (Joubert 2010). Equality is essential in ensuring that all South African children have access to quality education where they can learn in an environment free from bias and discrimination (Asmal 2001). Bronfenbrenner's social ecological systems theory underpinned this study. The purpose of this research was to identify the challenges experienced by two foundation phase teachers in teaching writing. This research was a qualitative study embedded within an interpretive case study. The following factors became evident: poor socio-economic backgrounds, transport, parental illiteracy, and teacher challenges that include the following subthemes: reading problems, differentiated teaching, resources, the language of teaching and learning, and writing support from the Western Cape Education Department (WCED). Keywords: rural, multigrade, writing, challenges, quintile, pedagogies

Janet Condy, Cape Peninsula University of Technology. Email: condyj@cput.ac.za. Bernita Blease, Cape Peninsula University of Technology. South African Journal of Childhood Education | 2014 4(2): 36-56 | ISSN: 2223-7674 |? UJ

Blease & Condy ? What challenges do foundation phase teachers Experience?

Introduction

The research topic of this study includes the following three concepts: `rural', `multigrade', and `the challenges of writing practices'. It was difficult to locate current internationally published literature that combines all three of these concepts. In the past few years, however, there have been a few local conferences, attended by international researchers, on multigrade education in Cape Town, and it was possible to draw on papers presented at these conferences which focused on `rural' and `multigrade' education. In contrast, there are many more books and articles published in the field of general `writing practices' in urban monograde settings.

Research shows that South Africa needs its own, `indigenous' solutions to indigenous problems arising from curriculum development. Importing an alien system such as Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) fails to account for, let alone address, the complexity of our country and its culture (Macintosh 2003). A one-size-fits-all curriculum cannot address the issues that rural multigrade teachers and learners face. This is the first study of its nature and could play an important role in recommending solutions to problems identified in the research.

The National Curriculum Statement (NCS) (RSA DoE 2001b) states that the curriculum seeks to create critical and active citizens, lifelong learners who are confident, independent, literate, multi-skilled and compassionate in society. Teachers are encouraged to inspire children with values based on respect, democracy, equality, human dignity and social justice. However, teachers and learners, in rural multigrade classes face challenges that hinder their ability to reach the literacy goals required by the NCS.

In 2011, the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) conducted the Western Cape Systemic Tests. Table 1 shows the provincial literacy results of Grade 3 learners.

Table 1: WCED 2011 Systemic results for Grade 3

GRADE 3 PROVINCIAL RESULTS

AREAS TESTED

Number of Pass % learners 2011

Average % 2011

Number of learners who passed

Reading and viewing

75 714

Writing

75 714

Thinking and reasoning

75 714

Language structure and use 75 714

PROVINCE

75 714

26.0 38.1 31.7 31.7 44.4 42.7 42.6 45.5 30.4 38.7

19 686 24 001 33 617 32 254 23 017

(Source: Cornelissen 2011:8)

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Although the WCED has implemented a Literacy and Numeracy (LITNUM) Strategy for 2006 to 2016 (WCED 2006), these results indicate that writing remains an area of weakness in a national schooling system that leaves much to be desired:

Schooling in South Africa is a national disaster. The vast majority of our schools are simply not producing the outcomes that are their chief objective. What is more, international tests suggest that South African schools are among the world's worst performers in maths and literacy. Worse still is the tragedy that our schools are reinforcing the social and economic marginalisation of the poor and vulnerable.

(Bloch 2009:58)

Countries such as Columbia, India, the Netherlands, Greece and Australia also have to deal with discrepancies in learners' achievement levels and have developed programmes, curricula, resources and strategies to address educational issues in a multigrade setting (Aghazadeh 2010; Berry & Little 2007; Cornish 2010; Joubert 2010; Padmanabha Rao & Rama 2010; Tsolakidis 2010; Vithanapathirana 2010).

Literature review

Since this study focuses on rural multigrade foundation phase teachers' challenges while teaching writing skills, three components have informed the structure of the literature review, namely a discussion on rural multigrade teaching, followed by what constitutes writing skills in a foundation phase class, and finally some possible writing challenges.

Multigrade education is a way of life for most rural communities and constitutes a shift from teacher support to group support, peer support and, ultimately, individual self-directed learning (Mulryan-Kyne 2007). Far from being an impediment to learning, multigrade teaching may be a benefit to the country. This ideology is in line with the development of writing itself. More significantly, Little (2005) finds that friendship patterns, self-esteem, and cognitive and social development are more favourable in multigrade schools. Multigrade classrooms are consequently ideal, as teachers guide children and children guide their peers towards their own independent learning and writing.

Taylor (2008) states that, despite the insults and discrimination of public opinion, South African teachers are dedicated and work hard to educate children under difficult circumstances. However, multigrade teachers, who need to plan and prepare for more than one grade per lesson, face special challenges. Beukes (2006) notes the absence of clear guidance for the combination of grades; inconsistent learner attendance; a lack of classroom management skills; mother tongue influences; grouping; and time management as some of the difficulties faced by rural multigrade teachers in Namibia. In Sri Lanka, according to Vithanapathirana (2010), there are many challenges to multigrade teaching, including high teacher absenteeism; the number of teachers deployed being less than the number of teachers teaching; low learner enrolment; and parents choosing to send their children to accessible, more popular schools, which leads to a decline in learners attending rural multigrade schools.

Tsoloakidis (2010) states that socio-economic development can be defined as economic development followed by specific social improvements, such as a reduction

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Blease & Condy ? What challenges do foundation phase teachers Experience?

in poverty, unemployment and inequality; better education and health care; and an improvement in moral values. In South Africa, despite government efforts to relieve adversity, poverty is still rife and poor education still fails to lift people out of it (Joubert 2010). Equality is essential in ensuring that all South African children have access to quality education where they can learn in an environment free from bias and discrimination (Asmal 2001). Most rural children adopt the disposition of their families and communities, who in most cases are unschooled and have very poor literacy skills. Downey, Von Hippel and Hughes (2008) note that students at rural schools are more likely to be poor and to rank in the bottom quintile for learning.

According to Joubert and Jordaan (2010), the Department of Education (DoE) has yet to recognise the pedagogy of multigrade teaching. Teacher training programmes and curriculum support programmes have not been developed to support multigrade teachers. Similarly, in Iran, the curriculum used in rural multigrade classrooms is the same as for urban monograde classrooms (Aghazadeh 2010). This implies that multigrade teachers in Iran comply with the curriculum as set out by their government. The Iranian education authorities have been developing structural, planning, training and development solutions in order to address the problems in their curriculum development.

Writing is a skill that can easily be taken for granted. For most rural multigrade teachers and learners, it is a process and an opportunity to learn to become independent writers. Learners need to acquire this skill in order to break free from the stigma and stranglehold of poverty and illiteracy. UNESCO defines writing and literacy as

[T]he ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society.

(UNESCO 2004:13)

Writing remains the most common form of communication. However, it is a complex skill and children need knowledgeable others to help them develop it. According to Potgieter (2010), multigrade schools account for 30% of all primary schools in South Africa; however, in most cases, the teachers at these schools are neither qualified nor able to provide quality education to their learners, including teaching them to write adequately and independently.

The National Education Evaluation & Development Unit (NEEDU) National Report 2012 (NEEDU 2013) states that learners in the foundation phase should be writing four times a week, including one extended piece of writing. The grade requirements for writing are as follows: Grade 1 ? writing sentences; Grade 2 ? writing paragraphs; and Grade 3 ? extended passages. In order for teachers to teach writing effectively, they need to have teacher knowledge. The report highlights three aspects of teacher knowledge, namely subject knowledge, knowledge of the official curriculum, and knowledge of how to teach the subject. A joint Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and Education Policy Consortium (EPC) study commissioned by the Nelson Mandela Foundation found that inadequate training affects teachers' ability to meet

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the high expectations of the writing curriculum. In addition, teachers are further hampered in their work and ability to teach by inadequate resources and support. Learners cannot learn to write without being taught the necessary skills or having pencils, books or paper (HRSC/EPC 2005).

There are many obstacles to writing clearly and logically. Dednam (2008) states that children make spelling errors due to difficulties with letter-sound relations; they ignore spelling rules and write phonetically. Incorrect letter formation and the addition of unnecessary lines and curls exacerbate writing problems. Poor word and letter spacing, uneven slanting of letters, poor line quality, uneven letter size and incorrect placement of letters make it hard for readers to understand what the writer is trying to communicate. The NCS (DoE 2001b) and Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) (RSA DoE 2011) make provision for spending time on the correct formation of letters during handwriting lessons. Table 2 highlights the contributing factors and challenges presented by children which negatively impact the writing process.

Table 2: Contributing factors and challenges impacting the writing process

Emotional factors

Physical factors

Lack of desire to attempt the writing process, anxiety, insecurity and lack of motivation

Poor visual acuity, perception and motor skills, uncertainty in hand domination, gender differences, poor nutrition, health problems, deprivation

Social factors

Cognitive factors

Hostility and aggression, passive distancing

Neurological dysfunctions, perceptual problems, intellectual impairment.

Language factors Absence of verbal language, language backlog, qualitative language that differs from the language norm, interrupted language development, communication problems (speech problems, articulation problems, pronunciation problems), problems with sentence structures, variations in the language system

(Source: Adapted from Dednam 2008:130)

Theoretical framework

The present research was conducted in a rural area where poverty and illiteracy prevail, therefore social and cultural constructs had to be carefully considered. The study was underpinned by Bronfenbrenner's social ecological systems theory with regard to addressing social and cultural issues and barriers to writing. Miller (2011) refers to the four systems in Bronfenbrenner's bio-ecological model of child development and how these complex interacting environmental contexts affect learning:

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